Keyo-red, er, the pairings for the ELfH series are Zero/Iris (No, I'm not ressurecting her) X/Alia, and Fefnir/Leviathin.
Thankies for the reviews, everyone!
Begin Chapter!
"It's been quite a while since we've had a human injury…" Cerveau muttered under his breath as he gathered up his instruments and tools for the job ahead. Behind him, Alia and Ciel were reclining on the repair tables. Farther back, Zero was standing against the back wall with his arms crossed over his chest, his face was nothing more than a blank mask.
The Researcher shook his head to toss his fragmented thoughts out of his mind. He had to focus on the task at hand, get Ciel patched back together and Alia checked out.
As the Resistance's expert in Weapons Development and Reploid Repair, it had fallen to him to take care of the injured Ciel. For once in his life, Cerveau was glad that he had taken that Human Physiology and Repair course way back in…
The Reploid walked over to the human, and began to examine the shoulder wound. Thankfully, it just barely qualified as a graze, and Cerveau decided that it would be fine with a thorough cleaning and bandaging.
"She'll be fine Zero." The Researcher/Doctor replied without taking his eyes off of the task at hand. "But she'll be sore for more than a few days. I'll have to see if we have any pain killers in our storeroom."
Silence.
Cerveau risked a glance over his shoulder, the crimson warrior was still there. His face was still dead, devoid of all emotion.
As much as Cerveau didn't want to admit it, he was more than a little unnerved at the Hunter's lack of emotion. The Reploid finished bandaging Ciel, helped her to slide off of the table, and then moved on to Alia.
Although Alia was not in the best condition, for a hundred and twenty year old Reploid she was in fairly descent shape. And when you consider the fact that she had spent the last seventy-plus years in prisons, labor camps, and the like, she was in amazingly good condition.
Nevertheless, Cerveau found himself shaking his head in exasperation.
"I know it's bad," Alia muttered from her reclined condition, "Just tell me how bad."
"It doesn't look good, I'll admit. But it's nowhere near as bad as some cases I've seen." The Researcher replied, throwing a meaningful glance at Zero.
"Tell me honestly, what's the extent of the damage?"
"Your circulation drive is almost completely gone. The motor units are in good condition, but I wouldn't want to have them a few years from now. Your internal processors are corroded, but your skeletal, AI, and memory systems are in good working order."
Alia shook her head but didn't make a reply.
"Is there anything you can do, Cerveau?" Ciel stepped forward so that she was standing next to Alia.
"There might be." The researched studied the maze of diagrams and information flooding across his visor. "Finding parts to replace the ones that she has now would be almost impossible given their age…"
"I didn't think that there was anything that could be done."
"Don't worry, Alia," Ciel hastily soothed the Reploid's uneasiness. "Cerveau is a miracle worker. If there's a way to repair you, he'll find it. Right, Zero?"
The trio of allies glanced back at the Hunter, or rather, where the Hunter had been.
Zero's spot by the back wall was empty.
10101010101010101010101
"Life just isn't fair…" D'niel grumbled as he trudged down the dark Neo Arcadian street.
D'niel had had it. Everybody and his brother had been riding his case lately. Was it his fault that he'd just had a major shout-out with his wife? Was it his fault that he'd been so rattled from the experience that he'd messed up his company's chances of resolving the Gutter's Contract?
Life just wasn't fair, and it was frustrating D'niel that nobody understood that. Maybe when he got home things would take a turn for the better. But he doubted that idea, his life had always been a wreck, a disaster waiting to happen. It wasn't likely that things would change overnight.
All he needed was just a lucky break, for something to happen that would give him just one shot at making it big- and then he'd be able to put everything right.
Who was he kidding? Things like that never happened in real life.
CLINK CLINK
D'niel paused in mid-step as the soft metallic sound reached his ears. The sound was something he wasn't familiar with, it almost sounded like metal scraping against metal.
CLINK CLINK WHIIIIRRRRRRR.
Now there was the undertone of machinery and gears- that too was out of place.
Curiosity began seeping into D'niel's mind. He'd never heard that combination of sounds before, what was causing it?
The man paused, waiting for the sounds to repeat themselves.
CLINK CLINK WHHIIIRRRRRR CLINK.
Funny, it almost sounded like the sound was right behind and above him…
D'niel turned around- and his breath stopped in his throat. Towering over him was a huge Reploid-like creature that was easily twice his height. And since D'niel wasalmost six feet tall, that was impressive.
Impressive enough to send chills down D'niel's back. Instinctively, he took a step back.
"What, who are you?" The man queried.
The only answer he received was a storm of blaster-fire.
10101010101010101010101
The crimson warrior studied the horizon as if trying to find the answers that he sought there.
Zero was standing on the outside corner of the Resistance base's left tower, the spot that he habitated when he needed his space to think and question himself.
For months he had gone through his new life with no memory of his past. All he knew was that in the past he was Zero, X's ally, a Maverick Hunter.
Now he was Zero, rebel hero and the thorn of Neo Arcadia's side.
Aside from that, he didn't know anything; he had always tried to find the links to his history, the memories of his past. And now they were within his grasp, surely Alia could explain who he was, what had been his purpose…
That should please him, excite him… yet it did none of that. Instead… he seemed to be dreading learning who he was. That realization annoyed Zero, dread was linked to fear, and uncontrolledfear was not something that he was accustomed to. He had felt it before, but in the past he had been able to suppress it, to bottle it up and store it away. Now, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't keep it in check.
Annoying. Simply annoying.
But when push came to shove, there was only one way to conquer this fear. Talk with Alia and learn the truth about his past.
Just as soon as he found out what the source of that massive explosion in the distance was.
The second that the mushroom cloud appeared in the distance, the warrior was in motion. Vaulting over the railing, the Hunter began his descent to the ground below. Zero burst forward the second that his feet hit the ground.
"Merge!" Zero barked over his shoulder.
Instantly the blue elf appeared just behind the warrior.
"Go find Ciel, tell her were I'm going and to get all troops out of that sector. Have her contact me over the com when you do."
"Merge do that right away, Mr. Zero!" With a quick nod, the sprite vanished from sight to begin his task.
Zero turned his attention back to his run. Unless he was mistaken, those explosions were coming from Neo Arcadia.
10101010101010101010101
"Rough day, Harpuia?" Leviathan noticed the Thunder Guardian entering the room.
"It was as expected." The green reploid replied. His voice was deadpan, giving away nothing about what he really thought about his ordeal.
"Meh, you'd think those Senators would get out of your hair." Fefnir muttered as he moved over to join his two companions. "You were impersonated, big deal."
"If only it were that simple, Fefnir." The Thunder Guardian explained. "The Senators are not as apathetic as the general citizens. They make it their business to examine and review the actions taken by the Head of Arcadia. The fact that I was impersonated does nothing but open the door for them to perform more probing."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Leviathan placed a hand on Harpuia's shoulder. "The Senate's never been able to gain a handhold over your office, don't think that they will now."
Harpuia closed his eyes and contemplated the idea. "As much as I'd like to believe that, we must guard against becoming complacent, just because of their past fail-"
At that moment, all chaos broke loose.
Lights of all colors exploded out of the walls, at the exact samesecond that sirens and horns started blaring.
"What? What's going on?" Fairy Leviathan spun around, her eyes darting about in bewilderment.
"Red Alert!" Harpuia exploded into motion. He dashed over to a nearby computer monitor and began punching in commands and queries.
In seconds, data began pouring across the screen. Each Guardian was leftspeechless over the situation being revealed on the monitor before them.
"It's impossible…" Leviathan gasped in shock.
"Evidently it is not." Harpuia's eyes narrowed as he analyzed the information. "We've got what can only be called a full scale Maverick Attack on our hands.Atleast a dozendifferent attackers were reported within minutes. Reploids have appeared in the city, and they're attacking anything and everything that moves…"
"Then what are we standing around here for?" Fefnir snapped. "Let's get out there!"
Instantly the three were racing out of the control room and out into the hallway. It only took them moments to reach the roof of the Neo Arcadian capitol and assess the damage.
The city was in chaos.
No matter what direction they looked, they saw mushroom clouds of smoke, ash and debris. Screaming and panic were everywhere. Buildings were collapsing and exploding into flames all over the place.
"What in the name of X?" Fefnir gazed out over the city in bewilderment. Never had he seen anything ravage the city like this.
"What could do something like this?" Leviathan wondered aloud. Horrid scenes and images were already burning their way into her memory.
"There's only one way to find out." Harpuia hands whipped up and snatched his daggers from their sheaths. "We've got to go and find out. The foot soldiers obviously aren't effective against this unknown threat, and so the lot falls to us."
"Together or separate?" The Ice Guardian queried.
"It's a four pronged attack, we know that much." Harpuia recalled the information he had previously skimmed from the data screen. "Our best course of action would be to split up and meet each attack and stop it where it is now."
The other two Guardians nodded in agreement.
"I'll go East." Fefnir replied.
"West." Leviathan nodded.
"I'll take the Northern force then." Harpuia pushed off from the roof and shot into the air.
"Harpuia, what about the South?" Fefnir called after the Thunder Guardian.
"We'll have to hope that they can hold out until one of us gets there." The green Reploid looked over his shoulder. "Or... hope that someone else appears to help."
The Ice Guardian nodded, and then turned to her remaining companion. "Good luck, Fighting."
"You too, Fairy." Fefnir nodded back. "And stay safe."
"Don't you die on me either." Fairy Leviathan then turned and bounded off the roof and took off through the city.
Fighting Fefnir turned and slammed a fresh energy clip into his massive cannon. With an angry gleam in his eyes he leapt out into the city and began heading east.
As it turned out, he didn't have to go too far to find those responsible for the attack on Neo Arcadia. As the BatRing flies, the Fire Guardian met up with the attackers only six miles away from the Neo Arcadian capital.
As he arrived on the scene, the red Reploid slowed his dash to a stop and stared in disbelief. Strange beings were moving over the entire area, attacking and murdering any human unfortunate enough to cross their path. The… beings were obviously mechanical, but instead of following the modern almost-human robot designs of the present day, these creatures were blocky and barely qualified as humanoid.
Although the colors varied on each opponent, they were of identical design. Each being was bi-pedal, supported by two thick legs that were jointed backward, like a 'V' that had been rotated ninety degrees to the left. The legs were connected to a rod of some kind that was supporting a massive cylindrical area that looked like a thorax that was topped with a rounded dome. On each side of the thorax were two thick arms, the right arm ended with a massive cannon, the left with a huge fist.
Another thing that Fefnir noticed, was that whatever armor/metal those things were made of, it was effortlessly reflecting the defending Pantheon's blaster shots and saber slashes.
The Fire Guardian performed a quick head count. There were four of these monsters. Four of these things had come in and were ravaging Neo Arcadia, and there was nothing the Pantheons could do about it.
The carnage and destruction before him burned it's way into Fefnir's memory, igniting his anger.
With a scream of fury, the Fire Guardian locked his cannon's sights on the nearest creature and pulled the trigger. A blast of firepower exploded out of his gun barrel and shot through the air towards it's target.
Fighting Fefnir growled in annoyance as his shot ricocheted off of the beast's hide without causing a shred of damage.
10101010101010101010101
"What are these things made of?" Leviathan hissed under her breath as she snapped her staff about in a sharp twirl, knocking the three… creatures… she was facing away from her.
Following up on her previous move, the Ice Guardian hurled herself into a back-flip to put some space between her and her opponents. As soon as she came out of her gymnastic, Fairy Leviathan snapped her staff forward, discharging a series of ice crystals.
The creatures didn't even try to dodge the ice, evidently they had become so accustomed to shrugging off attacks that they probably thought themselves invincible.
They thought that right up to the time that the Ice Guardian's crystals exploded on contact with each creature's knees. Almost instantly a think casing of ice grew out of the explosion and spread out to encase each being's lower half in a solid layer of ice.
A grin passed over Leviathan's lips as she dashed forward at her trapped opponents.
A grin which vanished as the creatures took a step forward, effortlessly shattering the ice layers holding them motionless.
"Not good," The Ice Guardian gripped her staff in a defensive posture. "If I don't find a way to stop these guys soon, then I could be in serious trouble."
10101010101010101010101
Harpuia slipped to his left, avoiding the punch that the creature he was battling had hurled at his face. As the being's massive fist swept through the now vacant spot, the Thunder Guardian rushed in and performed a devastating 'X'-shaped slash with his twin daggers on his opponent.
As the Guardian had come to expect, Harpuia's attack hadn't even scratched the creature.
As the creature snapped it's left arm around to bring it's cannon to bear at the green Reploid, Sage Harpuia leapt backward and out of harm's way.
The Guardian againperformed another double-slash, this time unleashing twin crescents of energy from his blades. The attack swept forward and shattered against the mechanical being's tough hide.
As he ducked the retaliatory laser blast from his adversary, the back of Harpuia's mind was trying to figure out why these creatures devastating Neo Arcadia were faintly familiar to him…
The green Reploid rushed in and swept his dagger against the creature's hide. No effect.
The creature launched a punch at it's opponent. Harpuia danced away from the blow.
It registered. At that moment the Thunder Guardian recognized the thing that he was fighting. Although the creature had been modified from it's original look and design, it was still similar to the ancient armor that had been used during the Original Maverick War.
They were fighting against unknown beings in Ride Armor.
Even as he continued his onslaught against the mechanical Ride Armors, Harpuia's mind was working away, digging up everything he knew about the Armors.
The Ride Armors were the Maverick War's equivalent of tanks. Each one was piloted by a single Reploid and since they were constructed of a rare alloy, they could take a massive amount of damage before the finish even scratched. The last time Harpuia could recall them being used was during the 'Erasure' incident, almost a century ago. Eventually the high cost of maintenance and production, as well as a shortage of alloy, had put an end to Ride Armor production.
101010101010101010101010
"Everything in order?"
"That it is," Burgan, a medium-height, blue-robed, red-haired human leaned back in his desk chair and nodded to his female companion, who went by the name of Clio. "The bills of lading have been altered, receipts changed, and records 'tweaked'. I can guarantee you that nothing will be missed."
"You do realize that if we're caught it'll be the last thing that we ever do." Clio, a slender brunette human, looked over her partner's shoulder and studied the computer display mounted on the said desk. Various documents and bills were laid out on the screen, but the mass of numbers was too overwhelming for the female to make sense of it.
"That I do." Burgan said. "But it's a chance we have to take. We know what's right, now we have to act upon it."
"Then we are agreed."
"That we are."
"Have I ever mentioned how annoying your way of phrasing everything is?" Clio muttered.
"That you have." Burgan grinned mischievously. "But enough of that, let's get this project started."
"Beginning transmission."
End Chapter!